Roller toy



.1. L. PA FoRGE ROLLER ToY Filed Dec. 133, 1946 Jjflfifarje I nvenfar Patented Nov. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROLLER TOY James L. La For ge, arltflir'sville', Application December 13, 1946,' Sera'lflNo'. 716,084

4 claims.- 1

This invention relates to a roller toy comprising a drum within which is mounted a magnet which may be placed under the tension of a' spring in the naturel of a twisted rubber .bandt so' that, upon untwisting of the said band; the drumV willbe' given rotary motion about`` its axls' ain'd'v thus cause the drum to be propelled over a surface such as a floor, and the invention further comprises a -ruek or roller carriage having me'- talli'c magneticall;1 attracted rollers or balls and having traction with the outer surface of said' drum and maintained in such surface contact by virtue of the magnetic'fiel'd produced' by the poles of said magnet, said truck provided with means for Supporting a igured member or other object.

With these and'V other objects in view thein'vention resides in the' novel details of construction andf combinaticns of parts as Will be disclosed more fully hereinafter and particularly covered by the claims.

eferrin'g to the accompanying drawings form ing a' part of this specificaton and n Which like' numerals designate like parts in all the views-'- I Fig. 1 is a Vertical sectional view through a toy made in accordance with Vthis inverrtion;`

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken as on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arroWs; p

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a modiication of construction of theV truck shown in Figsl 1 and1 2. i 4

The drum comprises a circularly farmed wall: 2` which may ble cylindrc'al, oonical, or of other shape, with drum heads generallyid'entifiedlby the'numerals 3 and The circularly formedwall 2 is to be of non-magnetic material and relatively thin so that magneticl lines offorce7 may be effective therethrough; and' similarly the drum heads may be and preferablyarel made` of non? magnetic material. flfhe drum head3` comprises a Wheel or circular disk Eiand a bowed` plate' I disposed exteriorly of the drum to provide the space l' between said disk and said plate. The other drum head ll also comprises a Wheel or disk 8 and a bowed plate 9 associated therewith to provide the space ii? therebetween, the diameter of the circular disk 8 being the'same' as or different from the diameter of the disk 5 according to whether the toy is to roll on the fioor in a straight line or in a curvedI path.

bolt is disposed centrally' through'V the druni head' 3 with a nut IB positioned to contact the innermost face of the drum head, and a second nut l'l disposed to contact the outer face of ithe drum head, the spacing ofthe diskmand plate of the drum head thus making possible a more or less rigid bearing for said bolt. The' innermost end of said bolt is formed as a hook IB to receive one end of a looped rubber band l9, and the shank of said bolt is passed with a another bolt is disposed centrally through..

5 the .other druni head. with a fixed collar 2 positioned to contact theinnermostface' ofl the drum h face of said drum head,V thekspacing' of the sk and plate'of the drum head thus make. ing pes Able a more or less rigidb'earing for said bolt. innermost end of saidbolt 28 is passed with' loose ht through the opposite branch 2-9 of the U-shap'edV magnet 22; and said magnet bsancli is: provided With a hook 3.1" to receive the otl Jr end* of the' lcoped' rubber band. 19.

.ene bottom portion or base ht of? the magnet is iickened and made material'ly heavy soitha't, ifl* the drum is firmly held' in the hand' and saa-d hand' moved rapi'dly in a! circular path; the magnet wili'be given a spinning movement within the' drum about the aXes: of .the b'olts l and 252 to' cause thev rubber band l* to become`v twisted and' t-h'ereby receive` considerable tension; When sufhci'ent tensi'on' and/or twist has beenl thus im'- pa dythe drum is quickly dep'osited'on the'floor and the hand renioved' therefrorn, Whereupon the tvfiiste'd band Will then be free to untwist, and in such untwisting imp'art rotarytravel' to' the drumon'the floor, the heavy base 315' maintainihg' 30: said in an` upright non=rotative positionl will 'oe readily understoo'd. The upper ex- ;ii"'es of the' magnet branches 2! and 29 are Tdly directed as indicatedtat 31? and 33f to to the inner surface' of the' circular wall 2 drumi, and spaced from each other a sufdistance to gen'erate a' field of mag-nyeti'c for-cc therebetween.

The as illustrated in Figs. l" and' 2 comprovide bearings for the axles 31 of a plurali't'y' of' rolierys hieh' roller's are adapte'd to'V contact t .c on with the' outer surface of the' Wally .e secured the of an upstanf 'og pin' 39? whoseuppr extrem'ity i`s sharpened asiindicait'edatlllil'.

Prcfer'ab'ly, all'thej parts of this trucl'yar' of noni-rN magneuc material or' rather material which is' not" subject' to"`'flie`V inuenf'e of the rn'a'gn'eticJ field of the magnet' except that the balls orv rolle'rs a nut 21 dispose'd `to contact prises-Va having two oflits oltlp'o'sitc:V sides directed downizfardly as indicated* at 36* to'l afum. 'ro said platform there is* 2,45ae3e ample a doll whose skeleton or frame is generally identified by the numeral lil, by the expedient of pushing the sharpened end il of the truck pin into a more or less solid portion of said doll or other object, wherefore it will be evident that the doll or object may be given various positions relative the truck in accordance with the direction of penctration of said pin therewith.

The truck may be otherwise formed from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one such modification being illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein the platform 35 has substituted therefor a more or less hollow base (55 the lower floor of which is provided with a plurality of circular openings such as 46, each Opening being of a diameter slightly less than the diameter of a magnetically attracted metal ball such as til which is sprung or forced through the opening into the hollow interior of the base so as to be retained in said Ybase with a portion of the ball exposed through said Opening, as shown, for contact with the outer surface of the circular wall 2 of the drum. The material of said base may be as desired so long as it Will permit the placement of the balls til in their respective openings or sockets.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention, Wherefore it is desired not to be limited to the exact foregoing disclosure except as will be required by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A roller toy comprising a drum, and a truck; said drum comprising a circularly formed wall of non-magnetic material, oppositely disposed heads, a substantially U-shaped magnet rotatably supported on axially aligned bolts rigidly mounted centrally of said heads, said bolts penetrating the branches of said magnet well above its center of mass whereby to create an unbalanced condition of weight between the 'magnet portions respectively above and below the aXis of said bolts, the magnet portion above the axis being the lighter and comprising the poles which are disposed contiguous to the drum wall, and a rubber band interposed between the branches of said magnet with the ends of said band attached respectively to one of said bolts and to one of the magnet branches; said truck comprising a platform, a pin extending upwardly therefrom for Supporting a toy member, and rollers of magnetic material revolvably supported from said platform and adapted for traction on the outer surface of said drum wall, said truck 'being movably held against the upper portion of the drum surface by magnetic attraction vbetween said magnet and said rollers.

2. A roller toy comprising a drum, and a truck; said drum comprising a circularly formed wall of non-magnetic material, oppositely disposed heads, a substantially U-shaped magnet rotatably supported on axially aligned bolts penetrating the branches of said magnet, said bolts rigidly mounted centrally of said heads, the upper portions of the branches of said magnet constituting the poles Which are inwardly directed to- Ward each other and disposed contiguous to the inner surface of said drum wall, and a rubber band nterposed between the branches of said magnet with the ends of said band attached respectively to one of said bolts and to one of the magnet branches; said truck comprising a platform, a pin extending upwardly therefrom for Supporting a toy member, and rollers of magnetic material revolvably supported from said platform and adapted for traction on the outer surface of said drum wall, said truck being movably held against the upper portion of the drum surface by magnetic attraction between said magnet and said rollers.

3. A roller toy comprising a drum, and a truck; said drum comprising a circularly formed wall of non-magnetic material, oppositely disposed heads, a substantially U-shaped magnet rotatasly supported on axially aligned bolts penetrating the branches of said magnet, said bolts rigidly mounted centrally of said heads, the poles of said magnet being contiguous to the drum wall, the base portion of said magnet being thickened to provide weight Whereby said magnet will normally and operatvely be substantially in a Vertical position, and a rubber |`band interposed between the Ibranches of said magnet iwith the ends of said band attached respectively to one of said bolts and to one of .the magnet branches; said truck comprising a platform, a pin extending upwardly therefrom for Supporting a toy member, and rollers of magnetic material revolvably supported from said platform and adapted for traction on the outer surface of said drum wall, said truck being movably held against the upper portion of the drum surface by magnetic attraction between said magnet and said rollers.

4. A roller toy comprising a drum, and a truck; said drum comprising a circularly formed wall of non-magnetic material, oppositely disposed heads, a substantially U-shaped magnet rotatably supported on axially aligned bolts penetrating the branches of said magnet, said bolts rigidly mounted centrally of said heads, the upper portions of the branches of said magnet being inwardly directed toward each other and disposed contiguous to the inner surface of said drum wall, the base portion of said magnet being thickened to provide weight whereby said magnet will normally and operatvely be substantially in a Vertical position, and a rubber band interposed between the branches of said magnet with the ends of said band attached respectively to one of said bolts and to one of the magnet branches; said truck comprising a platform, a pin extending upwardly therefrom for Supporting a toy member, and rollers of magnetic material revolvably supported from said platform and adapted for traction on the outer surface of said drum wall, said truck being movably held against the upper portion of the drum surface by magnetic attraction between said magnet and said rollers.

JAMES L. LA FORGE.

CES Cli'll'ED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,070546 Sherlock Aug. 19, 1913 1,461543 Pettit July 10, 1923 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,727 Great Britain 1897 555,328 France June 28, 1923 

